Maduro wins Venezuela election in poor voter turnout

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela held its 22nd election in the presence of international observers throughout the 23 states and various Venezuelan embassies globally, to determine the country’s next president for the period 2019 to 2025.

Vladimir Padrino Lopez, Chief and General of the Armed Forces, said, “The election process was positive and balance and that the voting process was successful and what can be resolved is the participative character of the people.”

At roughly 10:26 pm, almost four-and-a-half hours after the regularly scheduled close of the polls, Tibisay Lucena Ramírez, the head of the Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE), emerged and read the election results from the International Press Center in Plaza Caracas, in the company of the vice president of the electoral body, Sandra Oblitas Ruzza; the electoral directors Socorro Hernández Hernández and Tania D’Amelio Cardiet; and the electoral rector, Luis Emilio Rondón Hernández.

Ramírez reported that, with over 92.6 percent of the confirmed ballots recorded, and 46.01 percent voter participation, with an overall 48 percent projection in the election, in which 20,527,571 voters were registered in the electoral roll, the total number of valid votes was 8,603,336.

Ramírez implored the international community to let Venezuelans choose and govern their own fate and lives: “We ask everyone, nationals and internationals to respect the electoral results and to respect the people of Venezuela who decided the future of the country in peace and tranquility.”

In closing, the president of the CNE said that the official results of the elections would be made available an hour afterwards; however, after 12 hours, no official results were posted to the CNE website.

Maduro took to the stage to thank and congratulate all those that voted for him as well as those that didn’t. He promised the thousands of supporters a change for the future of Venezuela. During Maduro’s victory speech, there were “American imperialist political cultural moments” of Trumpism; when Maduro called Henri Fuentes “Henri Falsantes”, and yet another movement of Barack-Obamaism; when one lady in the audience shouted, “I love you,” and Maduro responded, “I love you back!”

After the winning results were made public there were no concessionary speeches by candidates Fuentes, Bertucci or Quijada; however, in Maduro’s victory speech he expressed his desire to have an open dialogue with the other candidates towards a progressive move for the sake of the country.

On Twitter, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel tweeted to his Venezuelan counterpart and new best friend Maduro: “e hago llegar las más fraternales felicitaciones por tu contundente victoria en los comicios presidenciales de este domingo 20 de mayo.” (I want to send my most fraternal congratulations to you on your overwhelming landslide victory in the presidential election this Sunday May 20.)

1 COMMENT

Amazing that the CNE comes with election results so soon after the balloting is closed. Electronic voting is notoriously unreliable due to fraud unles it is extremely well protected with independent verifiable means. This is absolutely NOT the case in Venezuela. The way this ‘election’ is handled only further increases divisions, hate, mistrust, and the resulting chaos. There are a select few whom benefit from this chaos, and when their country finally colapses further (as if it is possible to sink any deeper) they will be the first to run and hide in one of the few places that will accept their dirty cash. Some of these hiding holes have congratulated Maduro with his ‘victory’.